


all the world's a play!

by cafekusanagi (RangerDew)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Gen, Mental Health Issues, Non-Linear Narrative, Post-Canon, Surrealism? i dont know, Traitor!Takeru, sorry i really dont know what else id tag this as
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:35:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29415747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RangerDew/pseuds/cafekusanagi
Summary: au where takeru was a traitor for soltech and didnt show up in the events of s3 because he was in jail or something.go.
Relationships: .kind of, Flame & Homura Takeru, Homura Takeru & Revolver | Kougami Ryouken, Homura Takeru/Revolver | Kougami Ryouken
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	all the world's a play!

**Author's Note:**

> written for the valentines day event on the ygo server im in. would like to deeply apolgize to my family, the creative director of yugioh vrains, myself, etc...
> 
> possibly one of my least favorite things ive ever written. well, lets gooo!
> 
> edit; help i just thoguht about this again and its worse than i imagined. seriously dont read this if you want to read things you will not read anything.

_PLAYMAKER_

_Soulburner…. Why?!_

_SOULBURNER_

_Yusaku, you know better than anyone not to ask that sort of question… though I don’t expect you to understand._

_PLAYMAKER_

_Then please explain! Please tell me!_

_SOULBURNER (nonchalant)_

_Woah, calm down… I’d almost think you sound desperate. That’s not very in character, Playmaker._

_PLAYMAKER_

_…_

_SOULBURNER holds out his duel disk._

_SOULBURNER_

_Well, no more talk. You want this Ignis, right? And I want yours. So come and get it!_

* * *

Revolver can’t stop this burning feeling across his skin.

It’s been present for months now. He can’t say it’s distracting, but whenever he’s alone and the sound and smell of the fresh sea reach him, the sensation comes back to him and he suddenly feels like he’s being burned, or maybe burning, but he definitely feels someone’s eyes are on his back. Boring into him.

_It’s all your fault! It’s all everyone’s fault! I don’t want to look at you, I don’t want to look at Flame -- I just want the entire world to fall!_

He can’t relax, in short.

It’s been weeks since everything ended and (Ai? The Dark Ignis?) finally died (no, disappeared -- death assumes they have life -- but they do, don’t they?) and Playmaker disappeared. It’s been even longer since Soulburner screamed his heart out and the whole world didn’t yield and Revolver once again saw the little boy his father had kept tortured for the better part of a year in the name of science. 

(In one last moment, Soulburner had looked at him and their eyes had locked -- and the shock turned to fury. 

Revolver doesn’t know if throwing that duel was his final regret or his greatest salvation.

...Probably neither.)

Baira, Spectre, Faust, Genome -- they all notice he’s bothered by something. Spectre brews him a fresh cup of coffee every morning and comments on how nice the weather is, but mostly stays unobtrusive. Baira, despite her silence, has obviously picked up on it; she evidently trusts Revolver to figure it out himself, as their leader and as her child. Revolver doesn’t know whether to be grateful or scared. 

He decides there’s no time to be scared, but he can’t stop thinking about Takeru’s singular, red eye. 

* * *

_PLAYMAKER_

_I don’t want to fight._

_SOULBURNER (weary)_

_...Well, too bad. You’re going to have to do lots of things you don’t want to do, right?_

_PLAYMAKER_

_…_

_SOULBURNER pauses in thought._

_SOULBURNER_

_Or, well, to be more accurate, lots of things will happen that you don’t want to._

_He stops._

_SOULBURNER_

_…Ugh, what am I saying. This is no time to moralize at you. I guess what I’m trying to say is, this world is random. There is no justice. You’re playing an act, Playmaker, and so was I, and the truth I concealed was that, really, the best thing you can do to the world is to burn it down._

_PLAYMAKER (broken, forlorn)_

_Soulburner…_

_SOULBURNER_

_If you have something to say, say it now. The next turn will be the last._

_PLAYMAKER_

_...Didn’t you say it yourself? ‘The circuit that changes the world’… that’s what we fight for. That’s what we live for. If the world is destroyed, then there’s no chance for change, or for a better world._

_SOULBURNER_

_...Did you hear a word I just said? I was playing an act._

_PLAYMAKER_

_...I know._

_SOULBURNER_

_...Do you?_

_PLAYMAKER_

_But was it really just all an act?_

_SOULBURNER pauses in genuine shock. Then, just as quickly, it morphs into venomous disdain; he positions his duel disk in front of him once more, reinitiating the battle._

_SOULBURNER_

_...You’re a lot more stupid than I thought._

* * *

Takeru leans on the guardrail. Below him, Den City is dazzling with a million different lights. It looks a bit beautiful, Takeru will admit. He drinks in the sight.

He notices Flame is out on the duel disk on his arm. He immediately puts on his act.

“Gaaah, that duel today was so good! That rushing of fire in my chest… I want to have another like that soon!”

Flame chuckles. “Careful, Takeru. Your other side is showing.”

_I wasn’t aware there was one,_ Takeru thinks, a bit scornfully, but makes a note that in the future, Takeru and Soulburner are two different people. Takeru is who he’s pretending to be. Soulburner is who Takeru’s pretending to be.

Geez, this is complicated. Can anyone blame him if he messes it up?

...Well, to be honest, it’d probably be more in character if he did. Takeru, Soulburner, they’re both kind of klutzes, aren’t they? 

Meanwhile, Takeru, in real time, rubs the back of his head. “Ack. Thanks, Flame.” He sighs, looks back out at the beautiful city. The sea’s light pales in comparison to it. Remotely, Takeru recalls some story about baby turtles being unable to find the natural light of the sea and dying as they crawl towards the city -- that’s a popular story, though, and one chock full with metaphors and moralizing and symbolism or whatever. Takeru prefers to be less gauche in his art.

“The big city is really beautiful,” Takeru says instead of all that. He takes a deep breath in, as if sampling the air, as if trying to take as much of the shining, magnificent landscape as he can into himself. He shifts a little. “Not at all like the country.”

“Indeed,” Flame says. “The Cyberse world was beautiful, but there’s something heavenly and organic about this place.”

And so Takeru and Flame share a bonding moment, both missing their home but both finding solace in the new world. 

It’s all so perfect, the lies. Down, down below, the person who Takeru isn’t laps it all up like a dog.

* * *

Do you love him? Revolver thinks one horrible morning.

His chest seizes. No, he doesn’t. Why would he even think that?

_I end my turn._

Why did he throw the duel?

(Isn’t it obvious? Because you wanted to apologize. Because you felt guilty and perhaps even remorseful, and Takeru’s flame would burn so bright if the rain fell on it a little less.

It was a beautiful flame.

(Do you love him?)

He can hardly believe Soulburner had been faking it.)

So, no. The final answer is no. Revolver does not love Soulburner.

His skin burns, and burns, and burns.

* * *

_SOULBURNER_

_No. No. I don’t believe it._

_PLAYMAKER (in tears)_

_Soulburner… please._

_SOULBURNER staggers on his D-board. He clutches his head with one free hand. On the other, his shattered duel disk sparks, just for a moment._

_SOULBURNER_

_No! NO! I refuse to believe it! I… I did not come all this way… just to be erased!_

_PLAYAMAKER (with increasing desperation)_

_Soulburner, please just surrender--!_

_SOULBURNER moves to clutch his head with both hands. He has ceased to listen to Playmaker, to anything._

_SOULBURNER_

_It’s all your fault! It’s all everyone’s fault! I don’t want to look at you, I don’t want to look at Flame -- I just want the entire world to fall!_

_He looks offscreen, and, for one split moment, locks eyes with someone. His rage turns into an eruptive fury._

_SOULBURNER_

_Why won’t it all fall down?_

_PLAYMAKER (screaming, hoarse)_

_What good will it do if the world crumples around you?! Soulburner, I need you! Please!_

_Please!_

* * *

Being scared of ghosts was a technical choice. Everyone was scared of something, irrationally. ‘Takeru’ just happened to pick ghosts.

* * *

In the end, Revolver finds himself in front of a Den City correctional facility. A nice one, actually. SOL had been determined that Soulburner would never see the waking world again, but Yusaku and Kusanagi and everyone who had loved Yusaku (which was a lot) were all skilled hackers, and some strings were pulled.

He’s aware that Soulburner is getting therapy, which is nice. If you asked Revolver for his opinions on therapy, he’d say he didn’t need it. Which is true.

(If he rambles any longer will the burning please please please go away it’s getting stronger every step he takes through the door and past the checking area where they click clack Ryoken Kogami in their database and find his name and he’s being escorted through extra doors and dear God, won’t the burning please lessen?)

  
  


Takeru’s room is in the back, and it’s incredibly neat. Impersonal. No items scattered around, bed made, except for one loose notebook by the foot of his bed. Revolver tries to look at the lettering, but the handwriting is far too messy. 

Anything to focus on other than the burning sensation of his skin and Takeru’s nearby presence less than five feet away.

“Visiting time is ten minutes,” someone calls. 

Footsteps recede. How light exactly is the security here?

Revolver pointedly doesn’t notice Takeru shifting in the corner of his eye.

“I said no visitors,” Takeru says, and Revolver’s skin sets _aflame._ “Swore I’d never set foot on the other side of the glass.” He huffs. “They talk a lot about ‘respecting’ us and stuff, but in the end, they still let you in here, huh?”

Takeru crosses his legs. “Maybe this is a better solution. Makes me seem less like a criminal and more like a regular high schooler if I’m just in my room like this, no?” (NO, Revolver wants to scream.) Takeru looks around the white walls. “Though, I guess if it was a regular high schooler’s room, there’d be more band posters. Or maybe, like porn?” An awkward silence ensues, and Takeru shrugs almost just as awkwardly. “I don’t really know what kind of stuff teenagers like. That was just a guess.”

“Why did you work for SOL?” Revolver asks, and it’s only when it leaves his mouth that he realizes it’s possibly the dumbest thing he can say in the moment. But he can’t start with _My skin hasn’t stopped burning since the day you died_ or _Help me_ , and when Takeru’s eyes shift dangerously he almost considers that the other options might have been better. 

If Takeru notices his discomfort, he doesn’t comment on it. Just controls his expression. After a beat, he sets his mouth into a thin line and sighs. Grimaces. “You would seriously never understand,” he mutters. “ _Especially_ not you.”

Revolver steps a little closer. _Fire, fire, the personification of hot iron on his back--_ “I want an explanation.” 

Takeru barks out a laugh. “Really. Do you.”

“Yes.” 

His voice sounds so, so exhausted. “Tell me a good reason why, and I’ll consider it.”

Revolver’s greatest virtue and heaviest curse: being honest. “It’s been plaguing my mind. I don’t expect closure, but I want communication.”

(Liar, liar, back on--)

Takeru’s eyes sharpen, and Revolver expects him to say _Not good enough_ or straight up ask him to leave. The moment suddenly deflates, though, and the high intensity lowers and Revolver’s skin is still on fire but the beating of his heart has calmed and the air of the room feels like it has returned to normal. The creases on Takeru’s eyes make him look old. 

“You could never understand,” he spits nonetheless. Fire in his words, if not in his soul. “For me, everything lost its reality. Can you imagine being in a world where time doesn’t matter? Where you don’t matter?” He rubs his head with his hands. “Nothing moves on anymore. So I chose to do the only thing I could.”

Takeru’s hands move to lift his glasses and rub his eyes. Revolver is certain he’s seeing clouds and patterns, and he’s somehow glad they have that in common. “No, no, that’s an awful explanation…” he mutters once more, frustrated. “Not that it matters. But, no, it matters. If nothing else, I want to communicate everything. The stagnant world deserves to know what it took from me.”

Despite not looking at Revolver, his eyes bore at him.

_Why won’t it all fall down?_

“I don’t want to exist as someone who isn’t real. I don’t want to live in a world that isn’t real. I want to destroy everything I’ve ever created, and everything that incident created -- ever since that incident, Revolver, ever since my parents died, I haven’t been able to reconcile with myself.”

He rubs his eyes again, blearily peaks out from behind his fingers. “To reconcile with powerlessness, huh? That’s a bit pathetic to think about.”

He squeezes his eyes one last time and, in one swift motion, sweeps his hair and puts his glasses back on. “I don’t really want to think about it.” Picks up the notebook by his feet. “Though, if you were looking for a more technical answer… knowing you…” He picks up a nearby pencil as well. “SOL could give me what I wanted to do. The existence of the Ignis disgust me; though, it’s similarly disgusting that I share this sentiment with you.” Flips to a new page. “That ‘Flame’ got what was coming to him.”

“Visiting time’s up,” someone calls from the distance. 

Revolver has learned nothing.

  
He still doesn’t know the cause of the burning, burning sensation on his skin. But he’s certain, here, now, in front of the boy Soulburner isn’t, he’s the culprit.

_I leave everything to you, Ryoken._

_Father… I’m sorry. The Ignis escaped and locked the Cyberse world._

_Dad… where are those screams coming from?_

(Guilt, or love, or longing. Maybe all three?)

_Playmaker, Ai… I leave everything to you. // He called me Ai…._

_The Dark Ignis must be eliminated._

(Well, then, Revolver, why are _you_ still doing anything?)

Revolver has never wanted the world to collapse to dust. But, really, what is he trying to preserve? 

_...Well, too bad. You’re going to have to do lots of things you don’t want to do, right?_

He suddenly misses his father. He suddenly misses the six children. He suddenly misses Yusaku. He suddenly misses that road of shimmering light that he thought to be the stars. 

(Isn’t there a story somewhere, about baby sea turtles? He’s not really sure what to make of it. Either way, he misses the past. He misses a time when he wasn’t a tool but a kid.) 

(If Stardust Road is the natural light of the ocean, then is he wrong at all?) 

_It was a beautiful flame. He can hardly believe Soulburner had been faking it._

_Do you love him?_

  
  


It’s only when he’s out of the facility that he thinks, He misses Soulburner.


End file.
